The game came down to the final minutes but the Graham Steers couldn’t put together the right combination to pull out the win over the visiting Stephenville Yellow Jackets last Friday, Jan. 26 as they lost 45-39.
It’s never easy to win a game when the opponent is knocking down deep 3-pointers all game and that’s what happened to the Graham Lady Blues when they faced the Stephenville Honeybees this past week.
In their second event of the season, the Graham Steers varsity powerlifting squad returned to Weatherford to put their weight to the test against other schools from around the area.
The event involved the same schools from their first meet a few weeks ago — Peaster, Weatherford and Mineral Wells — so there was some familiarity with the competition. But powerlifting often involves achieving personal goals as each athlete strives to beat their own records.
District games are important to players, coaches, fans and just about anyone. Basketball teams are fully immersed in these tough district matchups while other sports like soccer are closing in fast.
This past week, the Newcastle varsity basketball games went 3-1 in four matchups. The Ladycats went 2-0 with wins over Aspermont and Graford while the Bobcats won against the Hornets but fell to the Jackrabbits.
For their performances this past week, senior Mya Cabrera and junior Ben Burk earned selections as The Graham Leader’s Athletes of the Week.
In a game that was pushed back a day to avoid the cold and rain, it didn’t matter to the Lady Blues soccer team as they earned a 3-1 win over the Bridgeport Sissies.
Aside from the one goal Graham allowed to Bridgeport near the end of the first half, the Lady Blues were in control the majority of the game. Graham has excelled this season with controlling time of possession and it has led to their strong offensive showing thus far.
Every district game matters no matter the opponent. Both the Newcastle Ladycats and Graford Lady Rabbits understood that when they met up on the basketball court this week.
In an aggressive game Tuesday, Jan. 23 from both sides, the Ladycats came out on top yet again with a 60-37 win over the Lady Rabbits.
In a rematch from a month ago between the Newcastle Bobcats and the Graford Jackrabbits, the same result occurred as the Jackrabbits defended their home court and defeated the Bobcats 86-34.
Graford has been at or near the top of the Class 1A rankings all season long and it is evident every time they match up with Newcastle. The Jackrabbits traveled in December 2023 to Newcastle and defeated the Bobcats 80-51.
The Graham basketball teams had a winning Friday last week as the sub-varsity teams all earned wins over the visiting Mineral Wells Rams.
The Steers JV Red and Blue teams faced off against the Mineral Wells teams and both earned dominant victories while the Lady Blues JV Red team earned a big win over the Lady Rams.
JV Red Steers v. Mineral Wells (W), 61-46
Getting a win is always fun and something for which every team strives. But getting a win on Senior Night and getting to have all five seniors on the court at the same time in the final minutes is even better.
That’s how the Steers’ night went Friday, Jan. 19 when they defeated the Mineral Wells Rams 54-35. Graham moved to 2-1 in district and kept its hold on second place while Mineral Wells fell to 0-2 and sits in fourth place.
It was a battle of the defenses during Graham’s Senior Night match-up Friday, Jan. 19 with Mineral Wells.
Despite leading for most of the game, the Lady Blues fell to the Lady Rams’ comeback and took the loss 22-19.
In one of the lower-scoring games of the season, both Graham and Mineral Wells brought tough defenses to the court which caused a lot of problems on the offensive end for both sides. Teams struggled with turnovers and found it difficult to get good shots all game.
